Giulia Asks – What does it take to be a female entrepreneur in the Aquaponics field?

How many women do you know or you have contact with who work in the Aquaponics sector? I’ve been working in this field for two years. At the beginning as my father’s assistant in his company and since January 2018 as owner of a Tuscany-based Aquaponics farm I contributed to implement. Yet, I met only a pair of other women interested in starting an Aquaponics business. Beside few examples of women who run Aquaponics facility together with their partners in life. So, on Monday I shared a post on some Facebook groups about Aquaponics, looking for other female aquaponists to get in touch. But it aroused a great deal of fuss among some men of the groups, who accused me of sexism or insulted me for the picture I chose for the post. This is not the first time it happens that one of the contents I share caused a reaction of aggressive disappointment by some male operators of this field. In fact, some of them argue with me when I try to show the opportunities opened up by the farming of niche-market fish and crayfish species and crops variety. Yet, the issue I bring up in this article of mine isn’t restricted just to these and other cases of senseless gender discrimination. But I want focus more on the added value represented by a higher number of women working in the Aquaponics field. Could we succeed in taking Aquaponics to next step? That is to say, considered the crucial role we play within our communities and families, who better than us can understand and put into practice the benefits of Aquaponics to improve everyone’s daily life?!